Film and wrap dispenser

ABSTRACT

A film dispenser includes a housing having bottom, front, rear and side walls and a pivotally mounted top cover. The front wall defines a substantially elongate opening. Film or wrap severing means are provided at or adjacent said opening. An elongate and transversely extending support recess is provided within said housing and rearwardly of the opening, so as to allow for an elongate roll of film or wrap to be located therewithin. A pivotally mounted pressure flap is provided within the housing and is positioned above and apart from said support recess. A roll of film or wrap is adapted to be located within said support recess, with said pressure flap providing a downward pressure thereon.

BACKGROUND OF PRESENT INVENTION

This invention relates to apparatus for dispensing film and wrap, suchas for example plastic film or wrap, polyethylene cling wrap and thelike. It is particularly relevant to the dispensing of plastic film orwrap of the kind that is provided in roll form, normally disposed arounda cylindrical core.

Cling wraps and films are common household and commercial products, usedfor example in the packaging of a great diversity of products, includingfoods, magazines, stationery and many other consumer goods. In manycases, such film or wrap is supplied as a cylindrical roll extendingabout a core (such as for example a cardboard core). In use, onlylimited length of film or wrap are required from time to time for anyparticular use, and thus means are usually provided in association withsaid rolls of film or wrap, for the cutting of film or wrap as may bedesired.

It is common to use cardboard boxes for packaging such film or wrapwhich have also included a serrated metallic blade on an exteriorsurface for cutting the film. This has proved to be unsatisfactory in sofar as the film often folds up over onto itself (especially due to itsinherent clinging nature). Further, such serrated blades often becomeblunt before the roll of film has been fully used and, being disposable,are not environmentally acceptable to many people.

Alternative methods and arrangements have been proposed wherebycontainers or housings are provided, which involve the utilisation ofsevering means in the form of a hot wire, operated by electrical poweror battery or the like. This wire is used to quickly melt and cutthrough the film, causing an even cut across the width of the film. Byway of example only, such an arrangement is disclosed in Australianpatent specification No 544,232 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,144.

While such arrangements are particularly useful and a substantialadvance over the use of cardboard containers with serrated edges,disadvantages have been found to exist with such further arrangements.For example, it has been found to be necessary to provide an efficientand straightforward means of pulling the film out of the container, soas to allow the film to be cut by the severing means. It has furtherbeen found to be necessary to provide straightforward and efficientmeans for maintaining sufficient tension and pressure on a roll of filmwithin such a container. By way of example, the effective operation ofsuch containers depends to a large extent upon being able to maintain asuitable pressure and tension on the film at the point where the cut isto occur. Where the tension is too great, the film may be prone to tearunevenly. Alternatively, should tension be insufficient, the film wasunlikely to pull away from the wire and in fact can leave a stickydeposit on the wire which can result in future insufficiencies unlessthe wire or severing means is cleaned.

While the arrangement such as that disclosed in Australian patentspecification No 544,232 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,144 are particularlyadvantageous, such arrangements have not overcome the problems outlinedabove. In other words, they have not enabled film to be maintained at asufficient tension. One of the problems is that as the film or wrap isused, so too is the diameter of the roll of film or wrap reduced. Alsoof course, the use of the film results in the mass of the roll beingreduced. Thus, surface areas between a roll and the dispensing apparatusand the functional forces thereof are variable while it is desirablethat the film tension remains substantially constant.

Some previous attempts to overcome the above problem have been made byattempting to hold the rolls of film or wrap within the internaldiameter of the cardboard cores.

That is, by fitting the cores over appropriately formed and dimensionedlugs or axles. While, theoretically this should be possible, given thedimension of the core should remain constant throughout the use of filmor wrap, in practice this is not the case. In many cases, such cardboardcores are indented and thus do not efficiently fit (and are not able tobe adequately maintained in position) over such lugs or axles.

Further attempts have been made to overcome or minimise the problemoutlined above by providing fixing means at a fixed distance apart. Thisobviously provides problems in that the standard roll length varies fromcountry to country. It is therefore desirable to provide a means wherebythe film or wrap being dispensed can be maintained at a relativelyconstant tension while at the same time being able to accommodate rollsof variable widths.

It is an object of at least one aspect of the present invention to gosome way towards overcoming or minimising one or more of the abovedisadvantages.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent from the followingdescription.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a film andwrap dispenser including a housing having bottom, front, rear and sidewalls and a pivotally mounted top cover. The front wall is formed orprovided so as to define an elongate opening therein. Film or wrapsevering means are provided at or adjacent the elongate opening. Anelongate and transversely extending support recess is provided withinthe housing and rearwardly of the elongate opening, so as to locatetherein an elongate roll of film or wrap. An elongate and transverselyextending pressure flap is pivotally mounted within the housing andspaced apart above the support recess. The arrangement is such that onlocation of the roll of film within the support recess, the roll of filmis supported and maintained at a desired tension, the pressure flapproviding a downward pressure on the roll of film.

According to a further aspect of this invention there is provided a filmand wrap dispenser including a housing having bottom, front, rear andside walls and a pivotally mounted top cover. An elongate opening isformed or provided in the front wall and the bottom of the elongateopening is defined by a transversely extending and substantially planarbase plate. Elongate film or wrap severing means are provided at oradjacent the elongate opening and extending substantially thereacross. Amovable plate is pivotally mounted within the elongate opening andextends into an upwardly extending cover plate having a forward or leadlip portion which in a first position extends over and shrouds the filmor wrap severing means. An elongate and transversely extending supportrecess is provided within the housing and rearwardly of the elongateopening and base plate. The support recess is adapted to locate anelongate roll of film or wrap. And elongate and transversely extending,pivotally mounted, pressure flap extends across and within the housingand above the support recess. The arrangement is such that a roll offilm or wrap located within the support recess will have a downwardpressure applied thereto from the pressure flap. The arrangement isfurther such that film or wrap from the roll is fed between the baseplate and an underside of the movable plate, with the upwardly extendingcover plate and lip covering and shrouding the severing means. On adesired or predetermined amount of film or wrap having been pulled outof the elongate opening, an upward movement applied thereto will causethe movable plate to move and guide said film or wrap upwardly, thecover plate and lip thereby moving to a second position in which thesevering means is exposed, so that the film or wrap can come intocontact with the severing means to thus cut or sever the predeterminedor desired amount of film. The movable plate then returns to a positionin juxtaposition with the base plate, and the cover plate and lip returnto the first position in which they substantially cover and shroud thesevering means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

This invention will now be described by way of example only and withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded sectional view of a dispenser accordingto one form of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a dispenser according to one form ofthe present invention,

FIG. 3A is a sectional view of a first position of releasable engagementof stopper lugs with the pressure flap taken on section line 3A,3B-3A,3Bof FIG. 1,

FIG. 3B is a sectional view of a second position of releasableengagement of stopper lugs with the pressure flap taken on section line3A,3B-3A,3B of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a dispenser according to one form of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the dispenser of the presentinvention includes a housing 1 which has a bottom 2, side walls 3, arear wall 4 and a front wall 5. A top cover 6 is pivotally mounted tothe side walls 3 so that it can be raised to allow for location of aroll of film or wrap 7 (or for example for repair or adjustment) or forremoval of an empty core following use of film or wrap. The front wall 5is provided with an elongate and laterally extending opening 8, whichcan be provided with grip indents if desired. The housing can beprovided and formed of any desired material.

The bottom surface of the opening 8 in the front wall 5 is formed orprovided as a substantially planar base plate 10 which can be angleddownwardly and which is preferably provided with a roughened or texturedsurface. Juxtaposed therewith, there is provided a movable plate 11which extends across the opening 8 and is pivotally mounted to oradjacent sides of the opening 8, the movable plate 11 in its position ofrest, being in juxtaposition with and substantially against, the uppersurface of the base plate 10.

In the preferred form of the invention as shown in the accompanyingdrawings, the movable plate 11 extends into and is preferably integrallyformed with an upwardly extending and angled cover plate 12 whichextends upwardly at an angle from, or adjacent a rear end of the movableplate 11. Thus, the cover plate 12 extends upwardly and over so as tocover the movable plate 11. In the preferred form of the invention asshown in the accompanying drawings, the forward or lead end of the coverplate 12 is provided with a downwardly extending lip portion 14.

While the movable plate 11 and cover plate 12 are preferably integrallyformed one with the other, they can be separate integers securedtogether in an appropriate manner if so desired.

Extending across the opening 8 in the front face is a severing means 15,spaced apart from and above the base plate 10. The severing means 15 ispreferably an electrically operated hot wire, which is connected byappropriate contacts to a plug which can be connected to a source ofelectrical power. Alternatively, the severing means 15 can be connectedto one or more batteries or the like. Appropriate switching means can beprovided to turn the severing means 15 on or off so that the electricalpower will cause the severing means 15 to be heated. Thus, as will beappreciated from the following description, once the film or wrap 7comes into contact with the severing means 15 (the film or wrap beingunder appropriate tension), the severing means 15 will cut through ormelt through the plastic film or wrap 7 to provide film or wrap of adesired length.

As will be appreciated from the following description, a roll of film orwrap 7 is located within the housing 1 and an end thereof is fed throughand between the base plate 10 and underside of the movable plate 11. Theends of the film or wrap 7 are gripped by the hands of a user (such asfor example at the grip portions) and the film or wrap 7 is then pulledoutwardly from the housing 1. With the movable plate 11 in juxtapositionwith the base plate 10, the upwardly extending and angled cover plate 12and lip 14 extend over and substantially cover and shroud the severingmeans 15, thus protecting the severing means. However, on a desired orpredetermined amount of film or wrap 7 having been pulled out of thehousing 1, an upward movement is applied to the film or wrap 7 whichcauses the movable plate 11 to move upwardly (FIG. 1), guiding the filmor wrap 7 upwardly, and at the same time causing the cover plate 12 andlip 14 to move upwardly and rearwardly away from the severing means 15,thus exposing the severing means 15. The film or wrap 7 is then able tobe brought up against and into contact with the severing means 15 (theappropriate switch having been turned on to apply power thereto) so thatthe severing means 15 is essentially a "hot wire", the severing means 15thereby cutting through and severing the film or wrap 7. Preferably, dueto the present invention, the film or wrap 7 is at an appropriatetension so that a clean cut is achieved.

Once the appropriate cut has been made and the film or wrap 7 returnedto its position between the base plate 10 and movable plate 11 (withoutan upward pressure being applied thereto), the movable plate 11 iscaused to return to its position in juxtaposition with the base plate10, which in turn causes the upwardly and outwardly extended cover plate12 and lip 14 to return to their position in which they essentiallycover and shroud the severing means 15.

It is a particular advantage of the present invention that the movableplate 11 is formed and weighted, so that when it is moved upwardly tothereby expose the severing means 15 (and allow for the cutting of thefilm), it will immediately return to its position of rest, injuxtaposition with the base plate 10. This action immediately removesthe film from the severing means (and prevents it from stickingthereto), and also acts to immediately hold the remaining end portion ofthe film 7 between the base plate 10 and the movable plate 11, forfuture use. This avoids the film 7 rolling back into the housing andclinging to itself.

As referred to hereinbefore, there have been problems up until this timewith locating rolls of film or wrap 7 within such arrangements, suchthat appropriate tension is applied thereto. It is also desired tosecurely locate such rolls of film or wrap 7 within the housing, so thatappropriate tension can be applied thereto and so that there will be noor minimal lateral movement of rolls of film or wrap. Such lateralmovement within containers can effect the efficient dispensing of filmor wrap.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, the dispenser 1 of the presentinvention includes an elongate and transversely extending support recessor valley 20, rearwardly of the base plate 10 and front opening 8, thesupport recess or valley 20, preferably being arcuately contoured andpreferably provided with a textured surface to prevent or minimisestatic clinging of film thereto. Additionally, if desired, ribs or finscan be provided to form additional profiles or contours to the valleysides.

In a preferred form of the invention as shown in the accompanyingdrawings, the support recess or valley 20 is integrally formed andmoulded with, and leads into, the base plate 10 at the bottom of theopening 8 in the front face of the housing.

The present invention also provides a pressure flap 25 which is elongateand transversely extending within the housing 1, the pressure flap 25being pivotally mounted in the housing and being located so as to bespaced apart from and above the support recess or valley 20. In use, aswill be appreciated from the accompanying drawings, a roll of film orwrap 7 is located within the support recess or valley 20 (preferably sothat the film or wrap is wound out from below the roll (FIG. 2), and sothat in this position the pressure flap 25 will be positioned on top ofthe roll of film or wrap 7 to apply pressure and tension thereto. As thefilm or wrap is used 7, and the diameter of the film or wrap about thecore 7a diminishes, the downward pressure on the roll from the pressureflap 25 will be substantially inversely proportioned to the diameter ofthe roll.

The underside 26 of the pressure flap is preferably substantiallyarcuate or concave and is preferably provided in one form of theinvention with a roughened or textured surface.

In one form of the present invention, adjustable stoppers 30 in the formof downwardly extending stopper lugs are provided at each end of thepressure flap 25 so as to prevent undesired lateral movement of a rollof film or wrap once located within the support recess or valley 20.

One or both of these adjustable stopper lugs 30 can be adjustable, forexample to be varied depending upon the length of the roll of film orwrap. In one form of the invention as shown in the accompanyingdrawings, the adjustable stopper lugs 30 can be engaged by way of akeyhole type engagement system with ends of the pressure flap 25 so asto extend outwardly and downwardly therefrom at each end thereof. Inuse, this will mean that the lateral movement of a roll of film or wrap7 between the lugs 30 is substantially limited so as to avoid or atleast minimise problems associated with such lateral movement of rollsof film or wrap as experienced up until this time.

It will be appreciated from FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B of the accompanyingdrawings, that the lugs can be engaged in at least two differentpositions, so that the spacing therebetween can be varied so as toaccommodate rolls of film or wrap of varying width.

In a further form of the invention, the stopper lugs 30 are fixed andare not adjustable, while still limiting and controlling lateralmovement of a roll of film in the support recess 20.

It should be appreciated that other forms of adjustable lugs can be usedif desired.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, a roll of film or wrap is locatedwithin the support recess or valley 20, which is formed and contoured soas to apply tension to the sides of the film or wrap as the film or wrapis used and thus the diameter increases. The pressure flap 25 maintainsa pressure on the upper surface thereof which is substantially inverselyproportional to the diameter of the roll.

The present invention has been described by way of example only and itshould be appreciated that modifications can be made thereto withoutdeparting from the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A film and wrap dispenser including a housing havingbottom, front, rear and side walls and a top cover; said front wallbeing provided so as to define an elongate opening in said front wall;film and wrap severing means being provided adjacent said opening; anelongate support recess extending substantially perpendicularly to saidside walls, said support recess being provided within said housing andbeing provided rearwardly of said opening, so as to locate therein anelongate roll of wrapping means; an elongate pressure flap extendingsubstantially perpendicularly to said side walls, said pressure flapbeing pivotally mounted within said housing and being spaced apart abovesaid recess; said pressure flap providing a downward pressure on saidroll of wrapping means, thereby maintaining said roll of wrapping meansat a desired tension; a substantially planar base plate being providedat a base of said opening in said front wall; the film and wrap severingmeans extending between said side walls but being spaced apart from andabove said base plate; a movable plate being pivotally mounted withinsaid opening; a cover plate extending upwardly from a rear end of saidmovable plate, an upper end thereof being provided with a downwardlyextending lip portion; the movable plate, base plate, cover plate,downwardly extending lip, and severing means being arranged such thatwith the movable plate in juxtaposition with the base plate, the coverplate and downwardly extending lip extend over and shroud the severingmeans; the movable plate, cover plate, downwardly extending lip, andsevering means being arranged such that after sufficient wrapping meanshas been removed from said roll, by being pulled out between said baseplate and an underside of said movable plate, said wrapping means ismoved upwardly so as to cause the movable plate and cover plate to pivotupwardly and rearwardly, thereby exposing the severing means andallowing the wrapping means to come into contact with the severing meansto thereby sever a required amount of wrapping means; the movable platethereafter returning to its position in juxtaposition with the baseplate, with the cover plate and lip returning to a position in whichthey substantially cover and shroud said severing means.
 2. A dispenseras claimed in claim 1, wherein said severing means is a heat severingmeans operated by electrical power.
 3. A dispenser as claimed in claim1, wherein stopper lugs extend downwardly from adjacent each end of saidpressure flap.
 4. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein adjustablestopper lugs extend downwardly from adjacent each end of said pressureflap.
 5. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein an underside surfaceof said pressure flap is of a substantially concave configuration.
 6. Adispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base plate extendsrearwardly into and is integrally formed with, said support recess.
 7. Adispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein said downward pressure on saidroll of wrapping means provided by said pressure flap varies in asubstantially inversely proportional manner to the diameter of said rollof wrapping means.
 8. A film and wrap dispenser including a housinghaving bottom, front, rear and side walls and a pivotally mounted topcover; an elongate opening being provided in said front wall and abottom of said elongate opening being defined by a substantially planarbase plate extending between said side walls; elongate film and wrapsevering means being provided adjacent said opening and extendingsubstantially thereacross; an upwardly extending cover plate having aforward lip portion which in a first position extends over and shroudssaid severing means; a movable plate being pivotally mounted within saidopening and extending into said cover plate; an elongate support recessextending substantially perpendicularly to said side walls, said supportrecess being provided within said housing and being provided rearwardlyof said opening and base plate; said support recess being adapted tolocate an elongate roll of wrapping means; an elongate pivotally mountedpressure flap extending substantially perpendicularly to said sidewalls, said pressure flap being within said housing and being above saidsupport recess, such that a roll of wrapping means located within saidsupport recess will have a downward pressure applied thereto from saidpressure flap; said film and wrap dispenser being arranged such thatwrapping means from said roll is removed from said roll by being pulledout between said base plate and an underside of said movable plate, withsaid upwardly extending cover plate and lip in said first position,covering and shrouding said severing means; on a desired amount ofwrapping means having been pulled out of said opening, an upwardmovement applied to said wrapping means will cause said movable plate tomove and guide said wrapping means upwardly, the cover plate and lipthereby moving to a second position in which said severing means isexposed, so that said wrapping means can come into contact with saidsevering means to thus sever the desired amount of wrapping means; saidmovable plate thereafter returning to a position in juxtaposition withsaid base plate and said cover plate and lip returning to said firstposition to substantially cover and shroud said severing means.
 9. Afilm and wrap dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein said movableplate and said cover plate are integrally formed one with the other,said movable plate being substantially planar; said cover plateextending upwardly and over said movable plate from a rear end thereofand at an angle thereto.
 10. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid movable plate and said cover plate are integrally formed one withthe other.
 11. A film and wrap dispenser including:a housing havingbottom, front, rear and side walls and a top cover which together definea recess that extends between and substantially perpendicularly to saidside walls, said recess being adapted to accommodate an elongate roll ofsheet material; an elongate opening defined by said front wall throughwhich said sheet material can be withdrawn, a lower boundary of saidopening being defined by a substantially planar base plate extendingbetween and substantially perpendicularly to said side walls; severingmeans extending between and substantially perpendicularly to said sidewalls, said severing means being adapted for severing said sheetmaterial and being spaced above said base plate in said opening; apressure flap extending between and substantially perpendicularly tosaid side walls, said pressure flap being located within said recess andmounted in said housing for swinging movement about a pivot axis whichis substantially parallel to, above and displaced in a directionparallel to said bottom wall from an axis of a roll of sheet material inthe recess so that said flap is adapted to rest upon a top of said rolland increase a tensile force required to pull sheet material from saidroll, said pressure flap being located such that, as a diameter of saidroll is reduced by a use of the sheet material, a downward pressure onthe roll from the pressure flap is increased; and a movable plateextending between and substantially perpendicularly to said side walls,said movable plate having front and rear edge portions, said movableplate being pivotally mounted by said housing so that (i) said frontedge portion normally rests upon said base plate to hold the sheetmaterial from the roll between the movable plate and the base plate and(ii), as sheet material is withdrawn upwardly from the opening undertension, the movable plate is pivoted by the sheet material to raise thefront edge portion so that the taut sheet material can be brought intocontact with said severing means and so that, after severing of thesheet material, the front edge portion is permitted to return to restupon the base plate to hold the remaining sheet material wherein: saidsevering means comprises a taut wire adapted to be heated by electricalpower; and a cover plate extends between and substantiallyperpendicularly to said side walls, said cover plate being affixed toand extending upwardly from the movable plate above and behind saidwire, said cover plate having a forwardly and downwardly extending upperlip portion which shields said wire when a front portion of the movableplate rests on said base plate and which, upon raising of the movableplate, is raised to expose said wire to sheet material drawn upwardlyunder tension from said opening.